Archives for Sprint, Midget & Silver Crown Racing

NEW TITLE SPONSOR, NEW VENUES RING IN RECHARGED USAC NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES IN 2018

Posted by pstephan on Thursday, December 7th 2017

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Indianapolis, Indiana………A brand new title sponsor and a pair of new venues amongst a slate of popular series mainstays bring an invigorated USAC National Midget scene in 2018 with 23 events, 21 venues and nine states occupying the USAC P1 Insurance Midget National Championship schedule.

The series has partnered with an innovative technology launching in January 2018 that rewards good drivers with great rates for car insurance, which will go hand-in-hand with benefits to the series and racers as a whole.

“P1 is the first insurance company to rate your driving skills on how you drive using smart phone technology,” USAC CEO Kevin Miller explained. “P1 rewards great drivers and also rewards our great drivers at USAC with incentives that will enhance purses and point funds in addition to contributing to individual driver sponsorships based on activations within their app. USAC will be promoting P1 throughout the year to a vast fan and competitor base to increase activation. This program has the ability to dramatically impact the direction of USAC circle track dirt racing.”

After a memorable 2017 season in which the deepest field of full-time competitors in years took part in countless memorable moments from the east to the west, race-after-race, the stage is set for another year of constant thrills. Those points include two venues serving as the host of USAC Midget racing for the first time.

Meeker, Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway begins a five-race, four-state central states invasion in mid-July at “Tuesday Night Thunder” on the 10th. The race will be the first USAC National Midget event held in the state of Oklahoma since an Oklahoma City Sports Arena doubleheader in February of 1975 won by John Batts and Sleepy Tripp.

Red Dirt is followed up by the annual “Chad McDaniel Memorial” at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kansas on July 11. After a night off, the Midgets double-hit Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Nebraska for two consecutive nights at the 1/5-mile oval. Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex rounds out the busy week with its initial appearance on the schedule and the first race for the series in the “Show Me State” since 2006.

The remainder of the schedule holds steady with familiar and popular stops along the tour. The season opens indoors under the roof of the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin for the “Shamrock Classic” on March 10. April’s docket brings on the “Kokomo Grand Prix” at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway on April 13 and 14.

The 14th edition of the six-race “Indiana Midget Week” series starts off at Montpelier Motor Speedway on May 29, followed by five successive events at Gas City I-69 Speedway (May 30), Lincoln Park Speedway (May 31), Bloomington Speedway (June 1), Lawrenceburg Speedway (June 2) and Kokomo Speedway (June 3).

Concurrent with the turning of the calendar to August is the start of Pennsylvania Midget Week which begins August 1 at Path Valley Speedway Park with subsequent stops at Linda’s Speedway (August 2), Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (August 3) and BAPS Motor Speedway – formerly known as Susquehanna – on August 4.

The USAC Midgets’ 37th annual run at the “4-Crown Nationals” at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway finishes out the Midwest part of the schedule on September 22.

“Go west,” USAC Midget teams say in the month of November when the travel guide shows the next stop as the “November Classic” on the 17th at California’s Bakersfield Speedway for the penultimate round of points-paying races. The conclusion of the 2018 points season takes place at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway on Thanksgiving night, November 22, for one of the most legendary races in dirt track racing, the 78th running of the “Turkey Night Grand Prix.”

The now traditional late-season 55-lap romp at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin, named in honor of the late USAC car owner Junior Knepper, is slated for December 14. Meanwhile, the date and venue for the “Jason Leffler Memorial” is still to be determined.

2018 USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Mar 10: Southern Illinois Center (Du Quoin, IL)

Apr 13: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Apr 14: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

May 29: (i) Montpelier Motor Speedway (Montpelier, IN)

May 30: (i) Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)

May 31: (i) Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)

Jun 1: (i) Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)

Jun 2: (i) Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Jun 3: (i) Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Jul 10: Red Dirt Raceway (Meeker, OK)

Jul 11: Solomon Valley Raceway (Beloit, KS)

Jul 13: Jefferson County Speedway (Fairbury, NE)

Jul 14: Jefferson County Speedway (Fairbury, NE)

Jul 15: Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex (Sweet Springs, MO)

Aug 1: (P) Path Valley Speedway Park (Spring Run, PA)

Aug 2: (P) Linda’s Speedway (Jonestown, PA)

Aug 3: (P) Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (Newmanstown, PA)

Aug 4: (P) BAPS Motor Speedway (York Haven, PA)

Sep 22: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

Nov 17: (W) Bakersfield Speedway (Bakersfield, CA)

Nov 22: (W) Ventura Raceway (Ventura, CA)

Dec 14: (SE) Southern Illinois Center (Du Quoin, IL)

TBA: “Jason Leffler Memorial”

————————————-

(i) represents an Indiana Midget Week event.

(P) represents a Pennsylvania Midget Week event.

(W) represents an event with the USAC Light Up the World Beverages Western States Midgets.

(SE) represents a non-points special event.

category: Sprint, Midget & Silver Crown Racing

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SWANSON A SHOE-IN WITH “TED HORN 100” WIN AT Du QUOIN

Posted by pstephan on Monday, September 4th 2017

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2017

Kody Swanson won Sunday night’s “Ted Horn 100” at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds, site of his first career USAC Silver Crown victory in 2010.
(Dallas Breeze Photo)

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Du Quoin, Illinois………Over the past eight seasons, Kody Swanson has steadily climbed the ranks to become the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car presented by TRAXXAS division’s second winningest driver. The foundation for the Kingsburg, California native’s remarkable run of success in the decade of the 2010s was laid at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds where he notched victory number one back in 2010.

Since then, Swanson had picked up 17 additional series victories, including seven more on one-mile dirt ovals. Yet, another win at Du Quoin had eluded him until Sundaynight when the two-time series champ flipped on the figurative switch in his patented style with less than ten laps remaining, passing Jeff Swindell in traffic to win his second career “Ted Horn 100” in his DePalma Motorsports/Radio Hospital – Hampshire Racing Engines/Maxim/Hampshire Chevy.

“To have a chance to win any Silver Crown race is a neat opportunity. To drive this car and win for this team is special no matter where it is. We’ve been fast here a number of times, but just couldn’t catch the breaks,” Swanson recalls. “There’s a lot that can happen that can take you out of a Silver Crown race. That’s why they’re so special when you do get them. Tonight, it was a battle. There’s so many good cars nowadays, you don’t get to rest or ride to save your tires.”

Among those good cars running up front early on was C.J. Leary who led the opening seven laps from the outside of the front row before Swanson ripped the top spot away briefly on lap eight with an inside pass coming out of turn four. Leary immediately responded by snatching the lead back away from Swanson on the outside into turn one where he would lead through the 22nd circuit.

As opposed to starting 28th such as he did at Springfield, Swindell didn’t have as much traffic to wade his way through this time around following a solid sixth-place qualifying effort. Just shy of a quarter-way through the 100-miler, Swindell rode the inner rail inside turn two past Leary to capture the lead and, by lap 30, had built up a half-straightaway cushion.

After halfway, Swanson put a charge on Leary just as Swindell did earlier, getting underneath in turn two to grab the second spot where he would remain until the final restart brought out by the slowing car of Robert Ballou in turn three, which bunched up the field and erased Swindell’s sizable advantage.

On the lap 77 restart, Swindell shot away just as he had done time-and-time again, slamming the screen door shut behind him before his followers even had a chance to react. Third-running Chris Windom did react though when Swanson stumbled in second. Windom dove inside on the front straightaway to take second and began his pursuit on Swindell for the race lead.

A repeat of last year’s epic duel between Swindell and Windom commenced, but a bid for a second consecutive Windom victory at the “Magic Mile” ended abruptly just four laps later, on lap 81, when he began to slow coming off turn four before pulling into the infield, sidelining him for the night. Swanson inherited second with 19 laps remaining, but had a half-straightaway of ground to erase to catch up with Swindell, plus the issue he encountered on the restart that he couldn’t immediately identify.

“I didn’t know if we had a bleeder stick or what,” Swanson explains. “As we were coming to green, I came over the radio and said ‘hey, you got to keep an eye out because something’s wrong.’ I don’t know what happened to the car, but it felt like it was down on the left side. I didn’t know if we had a torsion bar stop or something going funny. With us being so loose with the tire situation we had, I didn’t think we were ever going to see Windom again. I still don’t know if we would’ve if he hadn’t had that trouble.”

“After the race, I saw the left rear go flat,” Swanson added. “We were loose, way worse than we had been all race long. The longer we ran, the better we got, but we were still not the same as we had been throughout the middle of the race. I just had my fingers crossed that we wouldn’t have another caution.”

“Ted Horn 100” winner Kody Swanson and his wife/spotter Jordan Swanson embrace after Kody’s USAC Silver Crown victory Sunday night

at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds.

(Dallas Breeze Photos)

Swanson’s wish would be granted as the race would continue without a yellow, but it did force he and Swindell to maneuver through the throes of heavy lapped traffic in the final ten-lap run which was to Swanson’s advantage and Swindell’s disadvantage.

On the 91st lap, Swindell had trouble negotiating the lapped car of Aaron Pierce in turn three. As he stepped to the outside of Pierce, that opened the door for Swanson to capitalize on the bottom to snare the lead away with nine laps remaining. Swindell didn’t go away lightly as he came back a lap later to avenge his turn three defeat to no avail.

“It was tough trying to track down Jeff,” Swanson said. “Those guys were really good all day. Yeah, we run for the championship, but I want to win races. I said ‘it’s time to lay it down. I don’t know if the tires are going to last or not, but I want to try to win.’ It took everything we had to try to catch up. As we got loose, I had to keep moving, keep changing my line a little bit and try to figure how you can help your racecar. We got a little better just in time. I got a little bit of a run on him and closed enough to where if something happened, hopefully we could capitalize and we did.”

A lap later, Swanson knew if he didn’t get through the lappers in a timely manner, he could envision Swindell doing the same thing that just occurred to him. Swanson went on the aggressive heading into turn three, splitting through the middle between David Shain and Joey Moughan to escape Swindell who saw access to the opening close in a hurry.

“Lapped traffic is so tough on these miles,” Swanson said. “The way the racetrack is, as narrow as it gets, makes it hard to predict. We were able to capitalize on a moment there in lapped traffic and get to the lead. I got stuck a few laps later and was worried if I didn’t make the right decisions, Jeff would return the favor. I had to make a pretty big move down the backstretch by splitting between two lapped cars. I don’t know if that was a good idea or not, but tonight, it worked out. Maybe that was what sealed the deal.”

That move and the clearing of J.C. Bland – the final car in the pack – provided Swanson a road paved in gold toward the finish line where he finished off his fourth win of the season by five seconds over Shane Cockrum, who got by Swindell for second with four laps remaining. Swindell took third ahead of C.J. Leary and ProSource pole winner Jerry Coons, Jr.

Local favorite Shane Cockrum of Benton, Illinois, finished a season-best second in his Hardy Boys Motorsports/Financial Transportation Services – Infinity Shocks/Maxim/Claxton Chevy. Top-tier finishes have become commonplace for Cockrum at Du Quoin in recent years, but the two-time “Ted Horn 100” winner’s bid to even compete on Sunday was up in the air until recently after brake and engine issues at Springfield gave the team a major setback. The team loaned an engine from Carli Motorsports that had previously been used by Justin Grant to sit on the pole at Syracuse and Springfield in recent years and was the powerplant of choice for Tracy Hines’ final Silver Crown on the Belleville (Kans.) High Banks in 2013.

“I want to thank the Carli bunch again,” Cockrum praised. “To loan a motor out that may potentially outrun them, hats off to them. If it wouldn’t have been for them, we wouldn’t even be out here.”

Annually, there is no louder cheer for anyone than there is for Cockrum at Du Quoin as a large throng of fans certainly had something to cheer about this night with a runner-up finish.

“I go to all the miles and I don’t think there’s anybody that cheers any louder for anybody at any track than they do here for me. We’re pretty tickled,” Cockrum beamed. “I want to get half my hometown here. We’re 15 minutes away and I think we keep getting a few more every year, which is really cool.”

A number of records and milestones were on the line Sunday night if Germantown, Tennessee’s Jeff Swindell could’ve brought home his Swanson Racing/Jet Star – Rosewood Machine & Tool – Jeff Freel/Maxim/Toyota to victory lane at Du Quoin, such as he did in 1990. It’s been 24 years since his most recent series victory and he would’ve become the series’ oldest ever race winner. Yet, after borrowing a pair of shoes from Kody Swanson (that were too small for his feet), leading 68 laps and earning his third-straight podium finish with a third-place run, Swindell came up just short of getting the only record he wanted on this night: 2017 “Ted Horn 100” winner.

“We gave it away,” Swindell point blanked. “We had the dominant car the whole feature. We kept pulling away on all the restarts and my crew kept giving me the ‘wide open’ hand signals. We lost the radio about 25 laps in and, once we got to lapped traffic, I couldn’t tell where we were. I didn’t know (Kody) was that close. I tried to sneak around one of those lapped cars going into (turn) three. When I did, he slid out and about sent me out to the wall. That cost me dearly and left a hole open for Kody to come through. If I had known he was that close behind, I probably would’ve just sat behind the guy and waited. We got back around Kody on the outside there, then he split two lap cars going into three, but they closed up on me and that was the end of it. He got a good lead after that. It’s really sad because I think we definitely had the car to win.”

Contingency award winners Sunday night at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds include Jerry Coons, Jr. (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Casey Shuman (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Dakota Jackson (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

—————————

USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES (presented by TRAXXAS) RACE RESULTS: September 3, 2017 – Du Quoin, Illinois – Du Quoin State Fairgrounds – “Ted Horn 100”

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-31.216; 2. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-31.514; 3. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-31.670; 4. Chris Windom, 92, Kazmark-31.722; 5. Joey Moughan, 29, Moughan-31.808; 6. Jeff Swindell, 21, Swanson-31.836; 7. Shane Cockrum, 71, Hardy-31.935; 8. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-31.962; 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 120, Nolen-32.024; 10. Justin Grant, 91, Carli/Hemelgarn-32.077; 11. Mark Smith, 54, Lane-32.207; 12. Dave Darland, 97, Lein-32.238; 13. Brian Tyler, 12, Galas-32.283; 14. Austin Nemire, 16, Lesko-32.392; 15. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-32.405; 16. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-32.423; 17. David Shain, 7, Hardy-32.436; 18. Dakota Jackson, 201, Nolen-32.511; 19. Patrick Bruns, 95, Full Throttle-32.841; 20. Joss Moffatt, 32, Williams & Wright-33.198; 21. Ken Schrader, 14, McQuinn-33.282; 22. Steve Buckwalter, 53, SET-33.286; 23. J.C. Bland, 5, Bland-33.309; 24. Casey Shuman, 55, Bateman-33.341; 25. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-33.547; 26. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-33.644; 27. Johnny Petrozelle, 08, Cornell/Petrozelle-33.871; 28. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-34.235; 29. Terry Babb, 42, Babb-34.261; 30. Bill Rose, 75, Rose-34.328; 31. Keith Burch, 24, Burch-34.629; 32. Danny Long, 44, Long-35.368; 33. Robert Ballou, 6, Klatt-NT; 34. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-NT; 35. Chris Fetter, 88, Fetter-NT.

FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. Shane Cockrum, 3. Jeff Swindell, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. Jerry Coons, Jr. 6. Justin Grant, 7. Shane Cottle, 8. Brian Tyler, 9. Mark Smith, 10. Casey Shuman, 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 12. Dave Darland, 13. Dakota Jackson, 14. David Shain, 15. Joey Moughan, 16. Aaron Pierce, 17. Chris Urish, 18. Joss Moffatt, 19. Ken Schrader, 20. J.C. Bland, 21. Matt Goodnight, 22. Austin Nemire, 23. Danny Long, 24. Chris Windom, 25. Patrick Bruns, 26. Robert Ballou, 27. Terry Babb, 28. David Byrne, 29. Keith Burch, 30. Johnny Petrozelle, 31. Steve Buckwalter, 32. Patrick Lawson. NT

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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Leary, Lap 8 Swanson, Laps 9-22 Leary, Laps 23-90 Swindell, Laps 91-100 Swanson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Casey Shuman (24th to 10th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dakota Jackson

NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR POINTS: 1-Swanson-624, 2-Coons-519, 3-Windom-458, 4-Grant-415, 5-Byrne-387, 6-Pierce-380, 7-Bobby Santos-350, 8-Moffatt-269, 9-Joe Liguori-258, 10-Damion Gardner-248.

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR RACE: September 23 – Rossburg, OH – Eldora Speedway – 36th “4-Crown Nationals”

category: Sprint, Midget & Silver Crown Racing

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LARGEST Du QUOIN CAR COUNT IN OVER A DECADE EXPECTED FOR SUNDAY’S TED HORN 100!

Posted by pstephan on Thursday, August 31st 2017

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017

Two-time “Ted Horn 100” winner Shane Cockrum of Benton, Illinois is one of 38 drivers entered for this Sunday, September 3rd’s USAC Silver Crown race

at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds.

(Rich Forman Photo)

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

The largest “Ted Horn 100” car count in over a decade is expected this Sunday, September 3, for the return of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series presented by TRAXXAS racing to the “Magic Mile” at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds.

Thirty-eight cars have entered, making it the most expected entrants for the event since 2004.

The list is highlighted by eight past Du Quoin victors leading off with defending race winner Chris Windom. The St. Louis resident engaged a spirited duel with 1990 race winner Jeff Swindell down the stretch, taking the lead from Swindell with just three laps remaining to score his first win on a dirt mile. Windom used that victory as a springboard to a Silver Crown title in 2016, but he hasn’t won in the series since the season-opening “Sumar Classic” at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in April.

Germantown, Tennessee’s Swindell, meanwhile, has made his last two Silver Crown appearances memorable. He led a race-high 55 laps at Du Quoin on his way to a second-place run last September. Just two weeks ago, Swindell blitzed from 28th to 2nd at Springfield before Kody Swanson got back by coming to the white flag to drop him to a memorable 3rd place run to earn KSE Hard Charger of the Race honors.

Swanson, of Kingsburg, Calif., has won on all the dirt miles occupying the Silver Crown schedule, but Du Quoin has a special place in his heart as it was the venue that hosted his first series win back in 2010. The two-time Silver Crown champ and current point leader has since reeled off 17 more, but none in southern Illinois since that day.

Shane Cockrum of nearby Benton, Illinois, is the only two-time winner of the “Ted Horn 100” entered for this Sunday’s race. Back in 2015, he became just the tenth driver to win the race in back-to-back years, joining Tony & Gary Bettenhausen, Sam Hanks, Jimmy Bryan, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Mario Andretti, Jack Hewitt and Tracy Hines. This weekend, he can join the ranks of drivers who’ve won at Du Quoin at least three times in their champ car careers alongside Tony & Gary Bettenhausen, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Tom Bigelow, Jack Hewitt and Chuck Gurney.

Additionally, four drivers aim on Sunday to repeat their past Du Quoin glory: Russ Gamester (1997 winner), Shane Cottle (2007), Brian Tyler (2008) and Chris Urish (2013).

Just as impressive of a list includes drivers still seeking their first Silver Crown triumph at Du Quoin, including USAC Triple Crown Champions Dave Darland and Jerry Coons, Jr. as well as longtime NASCAR star and past USAC Silver Crown and National Sprint Car titlist Ken Schrader, plus 2015 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion Robert Ballou.

Lincoln, Indiana’s Darland makes his debut appearance in Hans Lein’s No. 97 Sunday. The pair raced together on the USAC National Midget scene as recently as 2013. Similarly, Ballou of Rocklin, Calif., will take the reins of the Klatt Enterprises No. 6 for the initial time as he makes his first trip back to Du Quoin since dominating the 2013 race before running out of fuel while leading late in the race.

Four years between starts is hardly a blip compared to Schrader’s 32-year absence from action in a USAC Silver Crown car on a dirt surface. Though his last appearance in a dirt car at Du Quoin came in 1985, Schrader has been no stranger to Du Quoin’s victory lane. Not only has he won in an ARCA Stock Car on three occasions, he’s also won in a modified at Du Quoin in four of his last five appearances.

Tucson, Arizona’s Jerry Coons, Jr. set ProSource quick time in the series’ most recent event at the Springfield Mile and sits second in points behind Swanson. A Du Quoin victory not only would be his first there, it would also be his first victory in the series in three seasons.

The “Ted Horn 100” begins this Sunday with pits opening at 1pm and grandstands opening at 4pm. Silver Crown practice runs from 5-6:10pm with ProSource Qualifying scheduled for 6:30pm. Pre-race ceremonies are slated for 7:30pm with the 100-mile race ready to fire at 8pm.

Advance adult tickets are $25. Advance tickets for children 11 and under are $10. On the day of the race, adult tickets are $30 and children 11 and under are $10. An adult pit pass is $35 while children 11 and under are $20.

Watch the full race a day after the event, on-demand, at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.

2017 “TED HORN 100” ENTRY LIST

AT THE Du QUOIN STATE FAIRGROUNDS

CAR # DRIVER / HOMETOWN / ENTRANT / SPONSOR / CHASSIS / ENGINE

07 JACOB WILSON/Crawfordsville, IN

Wilson Brothers Racing/Wilson’s Towing – D.D. Eyes/Beast/Claxton Toyota

08 ®JOHNNY PETROZELLE/Denton, NC

Cornell-Petrozelle Racing/Oak Leaf Properties – JNT Ltd./Beast/Stanton Toyota

2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL

Patrick Lawson/Mittler Brothers – Rebel Smokers/DRC/Chevy

5 ®J.C. BLAND/Springfield, IL

Bland Brothers Enterprises/Stevenson’s Drive Pawn Shop – Sam’s Speed Shop/Drinan/BBE Chevy

6 ROBERT BALLOU/Rocklin, CA

Klatt Enterprises/Beast – Klatt Enterprises/Beast/Ford

7 ®DAVID SHAIN/Sullivan, IL

Hardy Boys Motorsports/Financial Transportation Services – Central Roofing/Maxim/Brown Chevy

12 BRIAN TYLER/Mount Pleasant, NC

Galas Motorsports/Magnum Rotating & Pumps/Beast/Galas Chevy

14 KEN SCHRADER/Fenton, MO

Dennis & Dave McQuinn/McQuinn Motorsports – Cashless Racing/JR-1/McQuinn Chevy

16 AUSTIN NEMIRE/Sylvania, OH

Bob Lesko/Wayne Subaru – Bell Helmets/Beast/Chevy

18 KENNY GENTRY/Henderson, KY

Kenny Gentry/Engler Machine & Tool – KVKK Racing/Beast/Chevy

20 JERRY COONS, JR./Tucson, AZ

Gene Nolen/KECO – Indy Race Parts/Maxim/Tranter Chevy

21 JEFF SWINDELL/Germantown, TN

Swanson Racing/Jet Star – Rosewood Machine & Tool – Jeff Freel/Maxim/Toyota

24 ®KEITH BURCH/Farmington, MO

Keith Burch/Drain Buster Plumbing Service – Boen’s Signs/Beast/Kistler

26 AARON PIERCE/Muncie, IN

Sam Pierce/Tom Cherry Mufflers – Midwest Matt/Beast/Chevy

29 JOEY MOUGHAN/Springfield, IL

Joey Moughan/Moughan Electric – Conaway Handyman Service/Maxim/Claxton Mopar

30 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN

Chuck & Tammi Leary/Leary Construction – Gray Auto/DRC/1-Way Toyota

32 ®JOSS MOFFATT/Columbus, IN

Williams & Wright Racing/E3 Sparkplugs – Lucas Oil/Maxim/Williams

39 ®MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN

Goodnight Racing/Lumber & Things – Benic Enterprises/Maxim/Claxton

40 DAVID BYRNE/Shullsburg, WI

Byrne Racing/Stoops Freightliner Truck Country- Bytec Resource Management/Maxim/J & D Chevy

42 TERRY BABB/Decatur, IL

Terry Babb/Illini Aerofab – APT Powder Coating/Beast/Babb Chevy

44 DANNY LONG/Bonne Terre, MO

Danny Long/Farmington Auto Plaza – Alky Diggers/Beast/Z-Man Chevy

51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN

Gamester Racing/Gamester’s Green Gable Village/GRP/Toyota

53 STEVE BUCKWALTER/Royersford, PA

SET Racing/Heroes West Sports Grill/Beast/Brown Chevy

54 ®MARK SMITH/Sunbury, PA

Mal Lane/Lane’s Yamaha – Fastener Specialties/Maxim/Williams Chevy

55 CASEY SHUMAN/Tempe, AZ

Patty Bateman/Chance’s Chassis Repair/Beast/Foxco Chevy

63 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA

DePalma Motorsports/Radio Hospital – Hampshire Racing Engines/Maxim/Hampshire Chevy

71 SHANE COCKRUM/Benton, IL

Hardy Boys Motorsports/Financial Transportation Services – Infinity Shocks/Maxim/Brown Chevy

75 BILL ROSE/Plainfield, IN

Bill Rose Racing/Reliable Laser Screeding/Beast/Chevy

77 CHRIS URISH/Elkhart, IL

Chris Urish/Pacesetter Solutions/Conaway Handyman Service/Beast/Foxco Chevy

81 SHANE COTTLE/Kokomo, IN

Curtis Williams/Jack’s Auto Body – Roger Williams Precision Engines/Maxim/Williams Chevy

88 CHRIS FETTER/Troy, MO

Chris Fetter/Fetter Tile – F & S Collision/Beast/Foxco

91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA

Carli-Hemelgarn Racing/Carli Motorsports – Hemelgarn Enterprises/DRC/Speedway Ford

92 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL

Gene Kazmark/Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing – Remin Kart-A-Bag/Maxim/Wallace Mopar

95 PATRICK BRUNS/Champaign, IL

Full Throttle Racing/Mobil 1 – Cain’s Marine Welding/Beast/Speedway Toyota

97 DAVE DARLAND/Lincoln, IN

Hans Lein/Lein Acres/DRC/Stanton Mopar

99 ®KOREY WEYANT/Springfield, IL

Scott Weyant/Weebles Bar & Grill – Ealey Transportation/Beast/Automotive Machine

120 ®HUNTER SCHUERENBERG/Sikeston, MO

Gene Nolen/Roof Bolt Xpress – Wesco Trailers/Maxim/Tranter Chevy

201 ®DAKOTA JACKSON/Elizabethtown, IN

Gene Nolen Racing/The Cure Starts Now Foundation – KECO Coatings/Twister/Tranter

USAC LINKS

Visit USAC‘s official website at www.USACracing.com.

Follow USAC on Twitter at www.twitter.com/USACnation.

Like USAC on Facebook at www.facebook.com/USACracing .

Be sure to follow USAC on Instagram at www.instagram.com/usacnation.

Subscribe to www.loudpedal.tv to view replays of this year’s races as well as historical USAC action from the past.

category: Sprint, Midget & Silver Crown Racing

tags: DuQuoin, USAC, USAC Silver Crown

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COURTNEY CONQUERS KOKOMO FOR SMACKDOWN VI VICTORY

Posted by pstephan on Sunday, August 27th 2017

SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 2017

Tyler Courtney holds the “Sprint Car Smackdown VI” champion belt after winning Saturday night’s USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature

at Kokomo Speedway.

(Ryan Sellers Photo)

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana………Rarely does an event truly live up to its moniker, but Saturdaynight’s “Sprint Car Smackdown VI” was an apt description of how the final laps and post-race theatrics unfolded Saturday night at Kokomo Speedway.

Tyler Courtney utilized a slider to grab the lead from race-long leader Tyler Thomas on the final green-white-checkered restart to win his second USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature at the quarter-mile in as many nights.

Such as it was the night prior when he flipped in qualifying before returning to win theFriday feature at Kokomo, the trail for Indianapolis, Indiana’s Courtney to victory lane on Saturday night wasn’t quite a point A to B type of deal. After fighting engine issues early on in the night, Courtney encountered a maze that took just two laps, but resulted in jubilation for some, heartbreak for others and grass stains for a few who rolled around in the infield after voicing their displeasure with the way things played out down the stretch.

Tyler Thomas simply dominated from the drop of the green every single time action resumed, using the turn two wall as an extension of the racing surface by tapping the right rear rubber against the concrete to propel himself down the back straightaway.

One-hundred-eighty-seven USAC National Sprint Car wins were present throughout Saturday night’s stacked feature lineup, yet none belonged to Tyler Thomas coming in. On the final lap, with victory a near certainty for the Collinsville, Oklahoma native, the yellow flag flew for the spun car of Brady Bacon in turn four. By rule, that set up a green-white-checker, two-lap dash situation.

It became a duel between the two unrelated Thomases – Tyler and Kevin Jr. – when racing resumed. K. Thomas attempted a slider for the lead in turn one on the restart to no avail as T. Thomas sped away once again. On the final lap, T. Thomas banged the turn two wall with the right rear. Just behind him, mimicking the same concrete kiss was K. Thomas, who snagged it just a bit harder and flipped wildly to end his bid at a repeat “Smackdown” victory.

On the next GWC try, Chris Windom was lined up right on the tail tank of T. Thomas in the second position. Windom had no doubt in his mind what his plan was as he immediately dove to the bottom of one to successfully slide up in front of T. Thomas on the top midway between turns one and two. T. Thomas once again hooked the wall, but recovered and was able to slide past Windom into turn three as did Courtney nearly simultaneously. Dropping to third momentarily, Windom, using a diamond pattern off turn three, miraculously dove from the top to the bottom from turn three to four to drive underneath both drivers to reclaim the lead as the white flag waved.

Windom once again slid up to the top in front of both Courtney and T. Thomas running side-by-side in turn one. T. Thomas rocketed around the outside of Courtney first, then nudged the turn two wall with the right rear and split between Courtney and Windom off of two. T. Thomas pulled alongside Windom down the back straight and the two made contact! T. Thomas’ right rear hurdled Windom’s left front, sending Windom sideways as T. Thomas continued on. Third-running Courtney couldn’t completely avoid the carnage either and ramped over the nose of Windom, tearing off the nose of Windom’s car and sending him into a 360-degree spin and ending his race.

During the yellow, Windom took umbrage with T. Thomas. T. Thomas was mandated by officials to stop for a safety check to remove Windom’s steering wheel that was stuck in the left side nerf bar of his car before he could continue at the front of the pack.

Some say the third time is the charm, but that would not be the case for T. Thomas on the third attempt at a GWC finish. T. Thomas changed up the plan and went topside off turn four on the lap 39 restart. Courtney shadowed every T. Thomas movement until turn one when he took the middle and reared back for his shot at the race lead, this time pulling it off successfully. T. Thomas tried to counter to the inside, but lost momentum between turns one and two, but still had one remaining breath left in the tank.

With the white flag in the air, T. Thomas went to the bottom of one and aimed for his last shot, sliding wheel-to-wheel beside Courtney between one and two, so close you could hardly slide a credit card between each’s tires. Courtney anticipated the action, but kept his foot in it and sped around the outside of T. Thomas to remain in front where he would finish off the biggest win of his career just ahead of T. Thomas, Robert Ballou, Scotty Weir and Dave Darland.

One night following a prelim victory at the track in which he made his USAC Sprint Car debut, Courtney added another sweet note to his ever-growing resume by scoring the $10,000 check. Picking up a win at any track in USAC National competition is a tall task, but a win after overcoming so much adversity makes the nectar of success taste even sweeter.

Tyler Courtney (#23c) passes Tyler Thomas on the final restart to win Saturdaynight’s “Smackdown VI” finale at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway.

(Ryan Sellers Photo)

“It’s a lot sweeter,” Courtney exclaimed. “Last night was obviously pretty special getting my first sprint car win at Kokomo. That’s a hard feat to accomplish in itself. To back it up in the biggest race at the track is amazing. Really, all this goes to my guys. They busted their tails all weekend. Tonight, we fought engine troubles all the way up until King of the Hill Qualifying. These guys never give up and this is the least I can do to repay them. To keep coming back from adversity really the shows the kind of team we have.”

“When we turned it over, it hurt the magneto in the engine,” Courtney explained. “Today, it just didn’t fire. We changed one thing and it didn’t run, so we changed another thing and finally got it running. Thank god it did!”

To win, one must first put themselves in a position to win. Despite a few close calls and running between third and sixth throughout much of the 40-lapper, Courtney was there when it counted to score his series-leading fifth USAC National Sprint Car win of 2017 in his TOPP Motorsports/TOPP Performance Race Parts – Custom Pump & Controls/Maxim/Gaerte by TOPP.

“We weren’t a winning car for 99% of that race,” Courtney admits. “But we put ourselves in the right position to stay up there and remain in the hunt and it paid off. We got ourselves into second after Tyler (Thomas) and Chris (Windom) got together and I was able to capitalize on the restart.”

“On the restart, I did exactly what I wanted to do,” Courtney explains. “I was going to make him lift. Sure enough, he did. I got a good head of steam going down into three and was able to rip it pretty good. I slid myself back into one and two and just made sure to protect. This is special. It’s kind of hard to put into words right now. If you ask me a couple days from now, I might be able to. This is the biggest one yet.”

On the flipside of the thrill of victory is the agony of defeat. After answering every bell on an emotional roller coaster ride in which he admits he thought he had the race won at least four times, Tyler Thomas still came home with a career-best second-place finish in his Michael Dutcher Motorsports/Griffin’s Propane – Tri-Star Motorsports – Indiana Underground/Maxim/Fisher. So, so close, yet there is still a sense of pride in Thomas’ voice in what he accomplished Saturday night and what lies ahead for him and Dutcher.

“What makes me feel good is these are the best race car drivers in the country, in my opinion,” Thomas begins. “Last year, I was just pumped to make the A-feature on Saturday night. I’m pretty heartbroken about how this one ended. I guess it’ll just make the first win that much sweeter. I thought we had it, but it’s just not your night sometimes.”

Shortly after the checkered flag, there was a little bit of extracurricular activity that took place on the front straightaway as Windom confronted Thomas following their on-track incident. Words and actions were exchanged and several crew members ended up on the infield grass in a tussle as a dejected Thomas could only look on and wonder what could’ve been. Thomas was deeply apologetic to Windom in the immediate aftermath.

“I was expecting a slider from Chris on the restart in turn one,” Thomas recalled. “I knew if I could just get through turn one smooth and not hit the wall, I’d be in good shape. But he cleared me and I hit the wall. I got back underneath him and I tried to leave him a lane, but it’s so slick on the straightaway. I’m not sure if he came down or if I came up. The bottom line is I ran over his left front. I hate doing that. I don’t race that way. I hate to cost somebody else a win.”

Restart after restart can be mentally wearing on any driver, let alone one seeking his first USAC win. Thomas was flawless on each of them, but it was the final one that bit him.

“I did really well staying calm, cool and collected even after that first time when we were coming to the checkered flag,” Thomas said. “I was doing alright. I knew I could get through turns one and two okay. After the third GWC restart, my mind was going crazy trying to figure out what I could do to get the jump I needed, which was tricky because it was slick. You don’t know whether to slide yourself or go right to the top. I figured if I could just get my momentum up as quickly as possible, I’d be okay. Tyler slid by me and got to the cushion and there wasn’t anything I could do with him after that.”

Robert Ballou’s topsy-turvy race took him from pursuing T. Thomas for the lead in second with six laps remaining to waxing the turn two wall and dropping to fifth, then regathering himself to take his Robert Ballou Motorsports/Deaton’s Waterfront Services – Dickinson Farms/Boss/Ott to a solid third-place finish.

Despite a slider attempt at Thomas on a restart with 11 laps to go, Ballou never believed he had the car to compete for the victory.

“I was too free,” Ballou said. “In six years of Smackdown, if I haven’t crashed, I’ve been too tight the whole race until the last five laps. You just can’t race that way. We were pretty tight in King of the Hill Qualifying, so I went up and watched the race track, came back and Derrick had tightened the racecar up. I knew I wasn’t going to make it past the first corner. I had to go up and do driver intros and I told him this wasn’t going to work. Then, he went the other way too far. It’s just one of them deals. You have to be able to communicate perfectly every time. It’s a shame on me. I’m the one who spooked him and I knew we were going to be struggling at the end. I didn’t think the cushion would build up as high as it did in turns three and four. I was too good too early and I was just a sitting duck at the end.”

USAC contingency award winners Saturday night at Kokomo included Kevin Thomas, Jr. (B & W Auto Mart King of the Hill Qualifying Winner), Chad Boespflug (Simpson Race Products Qualifying Race 1 Winner), Jarett Andretti (Competition Suspension, Inc. Qualifying Race 2 Winner), Chris Windom (Chalk Stix Qualifying Race 3 Winner), Justin Grant (Indy Race Parts Qualifying Race 4 Winner), Dave Darland (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Kody Swanson (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

———————————

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 26, 2017 – Kokomo, Indiana – Kokomo Speedway – “Sprint Car Smackdown VI”

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Chad Boespflug (#69 Dynamics), 2. Scotty Weir (#17G On The Gass), 3. Isaac Chapple (#52 LNR/Chapple), 4. Mario Clouser (#6 MCM), 5. Brady Short (#19AZ Reinbold/Underwood), 6. Logan Jarrett (#29 Jarrett), 7. Travis Hery (#21H Hery). 2:11.53

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Jarett Andretti (#18 Andretti), 2. Chase Stockon (#32 32 TBI), 3. Aaron Farney (#15F DCT), 4. Tom Harris (#5E Harris), 5. Matt Goodnight (#39 Goodnight), 6. Chet Williams (#38 Williams), 7. Colten Cottle (#1RL Lambertson). NT

CHALK STIX THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Chris Windom (#5 Baldwin), 2. Dave Darland (#40 Hery), 3. Josh Hodges (#74x Hodges), 4. Kyle Robbins (#17R Robbins), 5. Brian Karraker (#23 Karraker), 6. Josh Spencer (#66J Spencer), 7. Parker Frederickson (#34 Frederickson). 2:10.23 (New Track Record)

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Justin Grant (#11 McGhee), 2. Shane Cottle (#57 Hazen), 3. Kody Swanson (#2E Epperson), 4. Brandon Mattox (#28 Mattox), 5. Tyler Hewitt (#97x One More Time), 6. Cole Ketcham (#41 Ketcham), 7. Robert Bell (#71 Bell). 2:11.67

B & W AUTO MART “KING OF THE HILL” 2-CAR SHOOTOUTS: (3 laps each) Round 1: C.J. Leary (#30 Leary) defeated Brady Bacon (#63 Dooling/Hayward); Tyler Thomas (#17GP Dutcher) defeated Kyle Cummins (#3R Rock Steady); Hunter Schuerenberg (#19 Reinbold/Underwood) defeated Robert Ballou (#12 Ballou) and Kevin Thomas Jr. (#9K KT) defeated Tyler Courtney (#23c TOPP). Round 2: T. Thomas defeated Leary and K. Thomas defeated Schuerenberg Final Round: K. Thomas defeated T. Thomas.

SEMI: (15 laps) 1. Farney, 2. Hodges, 3. Chapple, 4. Swanson, 5. Hewitt, 6. Clouser, 7. B. Short, 8. Mattox, 9. Karraker, 10. Robbins, 11. Goodnight, 12. Williams, 13. Hery, 14. Spencer, 15. Bell, 16. Harris, 17. Frederickson, 18. Ketcham, 19. Jarrett. NT

FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Tyler Thomas, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Scotty Weir, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Justin Grant, 7. C.J. Leary, 8. Jarett Andretti, 9. Chad Boespflug, 10. Chase Stockon, 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 12. Aaron Farney, 13. Kody Swanson, 14. Josh Hodges, 15. Tyler Hewitt, 16. Kyle Cummins, 17. Mario Clouser, 18. Chris Windom, 19. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 20. Brady Bacon, 21. Isaac Chapple, 22. Shane Cottle. NT

———————————

**Jarrett flipped during the Semi. Harris flipped during the Semi. Chapple flipped on lap 16 of the feature. K. Thomas flipped on lap 40 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-38 T. Thomas, Laps 39-40 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Dave Darland (15th to 5th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Kody Swanson

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1-Grant-1662, 2-Windom-1569, 3-Courtney-1493, 4-K. Thomas-1484, 5-Boespflug-1478, 6-Stockon-1419, 7-Leary-1288, 8-Bacon-1243, 9-Ballou-1166, 10-Andretti-1102.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 15 – Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, Indiana – “Jim Hurtubise Classic”

category: Sprint, Midget & Silver Crown Racing

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SUNNY SIDE UP; COURTNEY CAPTURES NIGHT 2 OF “SMACKDOWN” AT KOKOMO

Posted by Steve Wittich on Saturday, August 26th 2017

SUNNY SIDE UP; COURTNEY CAPTURES NIGHT 2

OF “SMACKDOWN” AT KOKOMO

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana………Sprint Car racing is chock full of ups and downs. Sometimes you’re in victory lane and sometimes you end up on your head.

Tyler Courtney experienced both of these extremes Friday at Kokomo Speedway, recovering from a hard flip during qualifying before returning to action after several other teams pitched in to make repairs. With a lap 10 pass of Hunter Schuerenberg, Courtney persevered to win “Sprint Car Smackdown VI” Night 2 at the very track where it all began for the Indianapolis, Indiana driver affectionately known as “Sunshine.”

“My first USAC start was the first Smackdown,” Courtney reminisces. “To watch it come full circle is pretty cool. I know it’s not my first USAC win, but to get my first Kokomo sprint car win tonight is pretty dang special. This place is tough to tame and the guys who’ve won here are some of the best to ever do it. This one ranks right up there with a lot of the big ones I’ve had. Plus, if you would’ve told me I’d win four USAC races in one year, I would’ve said you’re crazy. I would’ve been happy just winning another one!”

Courtney’s ProSource Qualifying incident came a lap after nailing down second-quick time in his TOPP Motorsports/TOPP Performance Race Parts – Custom Pump & Controls/Maxim/Claxton. Track position is critical at every circuit on the schedule and each position gained through time trials is essential to making the task just a little easier with less cars to pass come feature time.

“I was really frustrated with qualifying 16th last night,” Courtney admitted. “I knew I had a pretty decent lap on the first one. You have to hang it out in qualifying to be up there in the top-six where you want to be. I just got in there too straight, biked ‘er up and set her down. That shot me right into the fence and it was over after that. It’s part of the deal. You just have to persevere through it. With help from half the pit area, we got it back together and almost transferred out of the heat race. Running the B-Main helped us tonight. My guys never give up on me and I never give up on them.”

Courtney’s fifth-place run in the heat put him one spot out of a transfer position, relegating him to the semi-feature and a second-place finish there. Courtney felt the car was a continuous “work in progress” throughout the night following the crash and that it was making a couple unfamiliar noises it wasn’t used to making. However, his qualifying efforts did procure him a spot inside the fourth-row for the feature where he quickly went to work.

“Smackdown” Night 2 winner Tyler Courtney (#23c) passes Hunter Schuerenberg for the lead Friday night at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway. (Ryan Sellers Photo)

Initially, it appeared as if the 30-lapper was going to be a carbon-copy of the night before when fourth-starting C.J. Leary ripped the cushion to the lead exiting turn two at the start. The rocket ship would quickly be grounded, though, when, on the second time around, Leary snagged the turn one curb before contacting the concrete and nosing over, ending the race for the previous night’s winner after only one lap.

The tumultuous start would continue one lap following the restart when two-time USAC Silver Crown champ seventh-place running Kody Swanson got sideways at the exit of turn four, then nailed the infield tire, sending him into a series of flips that he would walk away from unscathed.

Schuerenberg took a hold of the lead when racing resumed as a wild scramble for position ensued behind him between Justin Grant and Tyler Thomas. On lap eight, Thomas aimed for the race lead with a slider between turns one and two on Schuerenberg. Exiting the second turn, the two made contact, pitting Thomas sideways halfway down the back straightaway, yet was able to maintain control and hold onto the second position for the time being.

The little bit of contact was Courtney’s gain as he ate up ground on the bottom while running fourth and, a lap later, used a surge down the back straight to whip past both Grant, then Thomas in quick succession to get to second. On the tenth lap, Courtney continued to crawl the bottom to move past Schuerenberg for the race lead exiting turn four, holding the spot by a car-length at the line at the conclusion of the lap.

With ten to go, Schuerenberg found his second wind through the middle and began to pulley himself back to within range of Courtney. Schuerenberg showed a nose to the outside of Courtney off turn two and, as Courtney noticed the bottom beginning to fade, he slid up to the middle lane entering the first turn on the 24th lap just in the nick of time to shield his position and deter the Schuerenberg charge.

Following a yellow for the turned around car of Shane Cottle with six laps remaining, Courtney ventured to the top with Kevin Thomas, Jr., Brady Bacon, Tyler Thomas and Schuerenberg duking it out for the runner-up spot. T. Thomas rung it out on the topside on lap 26, crossing over from high to low off turn four, then splitting between Bacon and Thomas on the front straight entering turn one to take second. K. Thomas countered under T. Thomas through the middle as Bacon lay low to make it three-wide off two.

A half-lap later, T. Thomas swung wide off turn four, nearly making contact with the outside wall. K. Thomas then ramped his right rear over the left front of the sideways T. Thomas, stifling his trek to the front and sending him back to fourth. Bacon capitalized and ripped the second spot away from K. Thomas on the bottom in response and began to track down Courtney instantaneously.

On the final lap, Bacon clocked in with his fastest time of the race and got a nose underneath Courtney entering turn three. One more lap might have been all Bacon needed, but it was not to be as Courtney secured USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature win number four on the year ahead of Bacon, K. Thomas, T. Thomas and Schuerenberg.

In a 30-lap span, Courtney continuously searched for the right line at the right moment, venturing from the bottom to the middle to the high side throughout the event, then used a diamond maneuver during the final laps to keep all challengers at bay for his fifth career win in the series.

“My car was pretty good on the bottom in the B-Main,” Courtney recalls. “I was set up to run there most of the feature. The bottom went away and it got slick down there toward the end. Hunter showed me a nose with seven or eight to go, so I made the jump up. I knew I was going to have to make her wide and make it tough for those guys to get by me on the final restart. Doing this for a living, you got to know when to go where. Luckily, we made all the right moves tonight.”

“My first USAC start was the first Smackdown. To watch it come full circle is pretty cool. I know it’s not my first USAC win, but to get my first Kokomo sprint car win tonight is pretty dang special. This place is tough to tame and the guys who’ve won here are some of the best to ever do it. This one ranks right up there with a lot of the big ones I’ve had. Plus, if you would’ve told me I’d win four USAC races in one year, I would’ve said you’re crazy. I would’ve been happy just winning another one!” – Tyler Courtney
(Rich Forman Photo)

Consecutive runner-up finishes have earned Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon the most points throughout the two nights of “Smackdown,” locking him into Saturday night’s $10,000 to win A-Main and a spot in B & W Auto Mart’s King of the Hill Qualifying along with K. Thomas, Schuerenberg, Kyle Cummins, Robert Ballou, Courtney, Leary and Scotty Weir.

Bacon’s run from 18th to 2nd on Friday night netted him KSE Racing Products Hard Charger award in his Dooling-Hayward/B & H Contractors – Dooling Machine/Spike/Stanton Mopar. Every lap counts when the competition is as tough as it is and, on Saturday night, Bacon will start no worse than eighth. That puts him in a better position on paper, but as the two-time series champ puts it, that isn’t necessarily a harbinger for success.

“On Thursday night, we thought we had a pretty good shot starting up front and we were just a little too tight,” Bacon remembers. Tonight, we started in the back and almost won. We were actually closer to winning tonight than we were last night even though we’ve run second both nights. I had only a lap or two where I could run the line I needed to run without someone beside me. We reeled Sunshine in pretty close at the end, but it’s only 30 laps, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Defending “Smackdown” winner Kevin Thomas, Jr. of Cullman, Alabama once again finished up front at Kokomo, wrapping up a third-place finish in his KT Motorsports/Jeff’s Jam-It-In Storage – Abreu Vineyards/DRC/Speedway Chevy.

“I didn’t do very well at the start of the night,” Thomas admits. “I was pretty terrible in the heat race and we got way behind the eight-ball and had to run the B. Jeff Walker helped us figure a few things out and the car was a tick better. We’ve just been struggling with being tight. I knew we were going to have to run the top, but I just didn’t know if it was going to work. We set it up for that. With Sunshine running the bottom, there was a lane open around the top and I had to take it. Brady (Bacon) got by us there at the end, but second or third is the same to me. If it’s not a win, it really doesn’t matter.”

USAC contingency award winners Friday night at Kokomo included Tyler Thomas (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Shane Cottle (Simpson Race Products Heat 1 Winner), Tom Harris (Competition Suspension, Inc. Heat 2 Winner), Dave Darland (Chalk Stix Heat 3 Winner), Chase Stockon (Indy Race Parts Heat 4 Winner), Brady Bacon (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Josh Hodges (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

—————————–

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 25, 2017 – Kokomo, Indiana – Kokomo Speedway – “Sprint Car Smackdown VI”

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Thomas, 17GP, Dutcher-12.754; 2. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-12.891; 3. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-13.088; 4. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.100; 5. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.123; 6. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-13.129; 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-13.187; 8. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-13.194; 9. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-13.197; 10. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-13.229; 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-13.242; 12. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-13.258; 13. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-13.266; 14. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.280; 15. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.282; 16. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.300; 17. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-13.324; 18. Tom Harris, 5E, Harris-13.345; 19. Dave Darland, 40, Hery-13.361; 20. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-13.364; 21. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.379; 22. Brady Short, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.407; 23. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.426; 24. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.445; 25. Cole Ketcham, 41, Ketcham-13.550; 26. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-13.572; 27. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.610; 28. Colten Cottle, 1RL, Lambertson-13.732; 29. Brian Karraker, 23, Karraker-13.804; 30. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-13.819; 31. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-13.940; 32. Jamie Frederickson, 58, Frederickson-13.956; 33. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.027; 34. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-14.100; 35. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-14.282; 36. Parker Frederickson, 34, Frederickson-14.548; 37. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-14.703; 38. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.816.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. S. Cottle, 2. T. Thomas, 3. Leary, 4. Hewitt, 5. Robbins, 6. Farney, 7. Karraker, 8. Mattox, 9. Jarrett, 10. Ketcham. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Harris, 2. Cummins, 3. Short, 4. Grant, 5. Courtney, 6. Weir, 7. Clouser, 8. Spencer, 9. Williams, 10. Bell. 2:15.94

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Windom, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Chapple, 5. Hodges, 6. Swanson, 7. K. Thomas, 8. Goodnight, 9. Hery. 2:14.52

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Bacon, 3. Ballou, 4. Andretti, 5. Boespflug, 6. DiMattia, 7. C. Cottle, 8. P. Frederickson, 9. J. Frederickson. 2:16.32

C-MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Goodnight, 2. Hery, 3. Jarrett, 4. Mattox, 5. J. Frederickson, 6. Williams, 7. P. Frederickson, 8. Bell. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Courtney, 3. Swanson, 4. Farney, 5. Weir, 6. Hodges, 7. Karraker, 8. DiMattia, 9. C. Cottle, 10. Boespflug, 11. Hery, 12. Goodnight, 13. Jarrett, 14. Mattox, 15. Spencer, 16. Ketcham, 17. Robbins, 18. Clouser. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. Tyler Thomas, 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Kyle Cummins, 8. Justin Grant, 9. Scotty Weir, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Jarett Andretti, 12. Brady Short, 13. Josh Hodges, 14. Dave Darland, 15. Chase Stockon, 16. Chad Boespflug, 17. Aaron Farney, 18. Shane Cottle, 19. Tom Harris, 20. Isaac Chapple, 21. Tyler Hewitt, 22. Kody Swanson, 23. C.J. Leary. NT

**Courtney flipped during qualifying. Bell flipped during the C-Main. Leary flipped on lap 2 of the feature. Swanson flipped on lap 2 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Leary, Laps 2-9 Schuerenberg, Laps 10-30 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (18th to 2nd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Josh Hodges

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1-Grant-1607, 2-Windom-1542, 3-K. Thomas-1459, 4-Boespflug-1432. 5-Courtney-1423; 6-Stockon-1376; 7-Leary-1236, 8-Bacon-1220, 9-Ballou-1102, 10-Andretti-1053.

NEW “SPRINT CAR SMACKDOWN VI” STANDINGS: 1-Bacon-311, 2-K. Thomas-308, 3-Schuerenberg-305, 4-Cummins-298, 5-Ballou-291, 6-Courtney-287, 7-Leary-281, 8-Weir-277, 9-Andretti-277, 10-Windom-276.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: August 26 – Kokomo, Indiana – Kokomo Speedway – “Sprint Car Smackdown VI”

category: Sprint, Midget & Silver Crown Racing

tags: Hunter Schuerenberg, Kokomo Speedway, Sprint Car, Sprint Car Smackdown VI, Tyler Courtney, USAC

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SUNNY SIDE UP; COURTNEY CAPTURES NIGHT 2 OF “SMACKDOWN” AT KOKOMO

Posted by pstephan on Saturday, August 26th 2017

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26, 2017

“Smackdown” Night 2 winner Tyler Courtney (#23c) passes Hunter Schuerenberg for the lead Friday night at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana………Sprint Car racing is chock full of ups and downs. Sometimes you’re in victory lane and sometimes you end up on your head.

(Rich Forman Photo)

Consecutive runner-up finishes have earned Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon the most points throughout the two nights of “Smackdown,” locking him into Saturdaynight’s $10,000 to win A-Main and a spot in B & W Auto Mart’s King of the Hill Qualifying along with K. Thomas, Schuerenberg, Kyle Cummins, Robert Ballou, Courtney, Leary and Scotty Weir.